How to Make Your Own Rib Rub

Around here we like to make your own rib rub every once in a while. It’s fun, easy, and you can get the kids involved as well. Let’s chat about it.

What’s a Rib Rub Anyway?

First, what is a pork rib rub? Well at a high level it is a mix of spices, herbs, and sometimes sugar. A homemade rib rub adds flavor, creates that crust we all love, and can even tenderize the ribs a bit.

Rubs also add colors to your meats! The colors range from a beautiful mahogany, brown, yellows, etc. depending on the ingredients.  This makes it appealing to the eye as well as the taste buds!

You spread the seasoning on your pork rib, let it sit prior to cooking, and the rub infuses flavor into your ribs.

Why Bother Making Your Own Rib Rub?

Why do you make your own dry rub for ribs instead of grabbing something off the shelf? Simple: control. You decide the heat, the sweet, the smoky, whatever your flavor profile.

It’s easy, it is fun, and most of all you get to experiment. You can pass along your BBQ seasoning knowledge to your kids. They get involved and you have created a bonding time with them.

You can get them excited about BBQ and share your passion for smoking their own food!

What You’ll Need

Here’s the lineup to make your own rib rub:

• Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and that sticky caramelized finish.
• Paprika: Brings color and a smoky edge.
• Salt: Pumps up every other flavor.
• Black pepper: Gives it some bite and builds bark.
• Garlic powder: Savory depth, no chopping required.
• Onion powder: More savory goodness.
• Cayenne pepper: Optional, for a little heat.

Pork Rib Rub Recipe

Ready to make a dry rub for ribs? Try this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you want a some heat)

Instructions:

1. Toss everything into a bowl and mix it up. You may need to adjust the ingredients depending on how many racks of ribs you are smoking.
2. Stash it in an airtight container until you are ready to cook some ribs.
3. Use a shaker bottle or some way to spread the seasoning evenly across your ribs. You want to press the rub into the meat instead of rubbing the rub.
4. Put the ribs in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 45 minutes.

Pro Tip

After you apply your homemade rib rub, let it sit on the ribs for a few hours. When it comes to BBQ, we have learned not to rush anything. The longer you can let the seasoning sit the better.

If you can leave it overnight this will add huge amounts of flavor to your ribs! This will initiate a process called “dry brining”. The salt pulls moisture out of the meat, creates a brine, then the meat sucks it back in with all the deliciousness.

In Conclusion

There you go a quick and simple way to make your own rib rub. This pork rib rub recipe is your entry to this process. Start with this recipe, make it your own, and have fun bonding with the kids while experimenting.

Also, I know we all don’t have a lot of time to create our own homemade rib rubs. In that case I would recommend our Butcher BBQ Honey Rub or Butcher BBQ Cherry Rub. Both have wonderful honey and cherry flavor profiles for your pork ribs!

We would love to hear about your experiences, so please leave us a comment below!